February 16, 2009

It's finally February and it's time for Crazy NC weather! Two weeks ago this was the scene:

At roughly 4pm or so, it started snowing. By the time I got home an hour later, it looked like that. It stopped snowing by 6pm. We were the only school in the entire county that didn't have at least a 2 hour delay the next morning.

Last Wednesday, I had lunch outside with no socks on.

Today, I saw a few random snow flakes flutter by my window around 10:30am.

I either want a foot of snow or 70 degrees and sunshine. I'm tired of the in-betweeness!

HORRAY that race season has started! Now there will finally be something to watch on tv on Sundays!! YAY!

Jamie and I had a lovely Valentine's day. I made a superb Chicken Parmesan that got the following comment: "This is better than they have at Olive Garden."

January 20, 2009

My favorite antique in our place is a cabinet that is probably at least as old as my grandpa, maybe older. The cabinet lived in the pantry of my great-grandma's (Grandpa's mother) house. When she passed away and the family was divi'ing up furniture from her house, I asked if I could have this plain jane cabinet. At the time it was white and I think the inside was painted green, but maybe I'm imagining that part and the inside was actually white too. But anyway. It was such a unique little piece and I wanted it. Mom kept it for me until I got my first apartment. Then she painted it for me to go along with the decor I was using for my kitchen/dining room theme at the time. Here's what it looked like:

Jamie and I have slowly been moving our kitchen colors away from pinks and purples to bolder, autumn colors. I didn't especially want to repaint the cabinet because it would take a lot of time and I had no idea what to paint on it. Then I had a stroke of genius last night. I got a set of fall colored scrapbook paper for Christmas, and wondered if I could just tape the paper on the door's panels. Here's how that turned out:

I took six pieces of paper, trimmed them to fit the spaces, scalloped the bottom edge of three pieces, and taped them in place. I am rather pleased with the outcome. I do keep wondering if I need something to go on the top paper in each panel, like a diamond or an oval in a different color. For now, it's going to stay like this.

Update on the family: Mom had her last chemo treatment on December 23. I think I forgot to mention that. This past week she started her round of radiation therapy. She will go for treatment five days a week for six weeks. Luckily the radiation place is close enough to where my grandparents go for their rehab that she gets to ride with them three days a week. But the treatment isn't horribly long or draining on her system, so she drives herself the other two days. My poor broken Mema is on the mend. Mom said Mema actually walked a full two miles last week at rehab.

January 11, 2009

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Over a week later....)

Here's my latest creation:

I got this little bowl in a set with a matching spreader (like for cheese or dip, I suppose). I knew I'd probably never use the set as it was intended. This morning while I was dozing I had the brilliant thought that maybe I could paint the little bowl and use it on the table on my side of the bed. The above picture is the nearly finished product. I'm putting several layers of glue over the paint to help seal it in.

December 25, 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We have had a great Christmas! Last night we went to a Christmas Eve Lovefeast at my boss's church. Since she invited us especially I knew we really needed to go. Plus, who can say no to a free lovefeast bun? Mmmm. It was a very lovely service. My boss sang in the choir and they did a wonderful job. When we got home we each opened one present from each other. Jamie got the Futurama: Bender's Game DVD and I got a new pair of slippers.

This morning (or rather....early this afternoon because we didn't get up until after noon) I made Orange Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast and we opened presents. We had presents from the West Coast folks as well as our presents to each other. Today's haul included: 3 bags of coffee, tons of candy, gift cards to Eddie Bauer/Walmart/Starbucks, cash, Ironman on BluRay, slipper socks, I Heart My Geek tshirt, isotoner gloves, a violin shoulder rest, a Post-It note cube, a 4gb thumb drive, charger dock for Jamie's Zune, Playstation 3 remote, James May's Magnificent Machines book, Penny Arcade Bird's Are Weird comic book, tooth brushes, and a chocolate orange.

After presents we played Warhammer for a while together. On Sunday of this week we bought a new montior so we could set up a second computer for playing games together. While we played Warhammer, we put a London Broil in the oven to cook. Christmas dinner was very tasty. We had beef, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, collards (thanks Mema!!!), deviled eggs, parkerhouse rolls, and sparkling grape juice. For dessert we're eventually going to have some chocolate pie, but we're still stuffed at the moment.

It was a very good Christmas for just the two of us. We missed our families, but we hear they had a pretty good time without us.

We hope your Christmas was just as good as ours!

Update on Beth's sickly family: My dear Mema who is taking care of two sick people right now got her feet tangled up in her laptop cords the other day and fell flat on her chest on the living room's concrete floor. Mom said they thought Mema probably cracked a rib or two, but she won't go to the doctor. Mema had to putter through Christmas Eve preparations with a very sore abdominal area. Mom had her last Chemo treatment the day before Christmas Eve and had her last Nuelasta shot on Christmas Eve. Luckily, the side effects of the treatements usually take a day or two before they kick in, so she felt plenty well enough to help Mema in the kitchen, especially since Mema couldn't reach for things up high or down low or carry heavy stuff. Mom starts her radiation therapy on January 7. That treatment will be everyday, 5 days a week for 32 days.

December 21, 2008

Here's what it looks like right now where Jamie used to live:

Brrrrrrr!!!!

Added more holiday pictures to the Flickr album. Enjoy!

December 15, 2008

Happy Holidays from the Hylands!

I've uploaded a few pictures of our holiday decor to the Flickr album. I need to take a few more!

We've already gotten a bit of our Christmas. We exchanged presents when Mom, Mema, and Grandpa came up for Thanksgiving. So far our Christmas haul includes: drill bits, a box cutter, clothes, a heavy duty staple gun, a tripod for the camera, Yahtzee, Rummykub, playing cards and a playing card holder, new sheetmusic, scrapbook stuff, a new door mat, a nice pen, a neat radio/flashlight that can be cranked up for power, Santa burner covers, a Christmas bell, and a cutting board.

Then this past weekend, we went shopping for Jamie's grandma's gifts to put under our tree. We bought four new pillows, new sheets for our still new bed, pillow shams to match the new quilt for our new bed, a Playstation game for Jamie, new shoes and a new shirt for me, kitchen towels and washcloths, and a spacious camera bag for our camera and all its accessories.

Even with all the stuff we've already gotten, we still have a massive pile of presents under the tree!

I get two full weeks off of work starting next Monday! I haven't gotten that much time off during the holidays since I was in school! Awesome!!! (This isn't vacation time. This is free holiday time!!!) I have no idea what we'll do to while away the hours. I'm sure there will be much video gaming and even more lazying about.

At work tomorrow I'm looking forward to stuffing myself silly at our departmental Christmas lunch. I'm taking green bean casserole and a yummy cornbread casserole (is it tacky that I totally just spooned up a corner of the casserole for a taste and now there's a hole?!). On top of the food, I'll also be providing the musical entertainment with a co-worker who plays the guitar.

Merry Christmas!!!

December 11, 2008

I've been tagged!

I was tagged by Angie. Here are the rules:

1. choose the 4th picture folder on your computer

2. choose the 4th picture

3. explain the picture

This is it. Sadly it isn't half as interested as the one Angie posted (she's about three and sitting on a dead deer her daddy had killed!). It's our corner cabinet decorated for Christmas last year. It's not quite decorated like that this year, and I'll try to get pictures of this year's decorations taken and posted to Flickr this weekend.

On the cabinet from top to bottom: Two nutcrackers from my Uncle Don; my Noah's ark; a nutcracker pillow that Angie's family gave me for Christmas one year; a really cool clear plastic set of a fiddler, a caroler, and a light pole; a $1 nativity from the dollar store; a snowball; a handpainted Christmas ornament; a nutcracker nativity given to me by my Uncle Don; a lighted house; a snowglobe with a violin playing snowman; and the twin to the snowman on the middle shelf. This year the cabinet features even more nutcrackers and several Santas.

Please keep my mom in your thoughts. While her last chemo went pretty smoothly (her port actually worked like it was supposed to this time), she now is battling a viral infection. It could be the flu or something similar, but it's hard for a person who has a compromised immune system to fight off. My grandma called on Tuesday to let me know mom was sick and had gone to the doctor for some medicine. Mom didn't even feel like talking so I didn't get to talk to her on Tuesday, but I talked to her last night and she said she felt better than she did the day before.